Then, walking home from a show during South by Southwest in 2017, he was robbed and shot a few houses from his front door. No one came to help, so he got up and walked home. A few months later he turned 40 and felt none of the usual dread. What came instead was clarity: he didn't need a second pool or a second car. He left the agency he started and took the pay cut without looking back.

In this conversation, Brian and Michael walk through the years that followed. The anxiety and PTSD that crept in two years later, when talk therapy stopped moving the needle and psychedelic therapy did. Coming home from the hospital to an empty house. Selling up in Austin for a small town in West Michigan, and signing up for yoga teacher training a week after the move. A breakfast taco trailer. A new baby. And the question that keeps coming back: who am I now?

Also in this episode:

• Why aging is "a luxury that not everyone can afford"
• "Thrashing": the internal, messy middle that the people around you may never see
• All things must pass: welcoming what enters your life and letting go of what leaves
• Why your dreams are never as good as you imagine, and your nightmares never as bad
• Why Michael doesn't believe things happen for a reason, and why that's freeing
• His advice for anyone in the middle of a pivot: the answers are already within you

Michael is a new dad in Saugatuck, Michigan and co-founder of Between Here + There. Next week, Michael and Brian put their two stories side by side: the common threads, and the model they're building from them.

We'd love to hear from you: have you ever gotten what you wanted, only to find it wasn't what you needed? Tell us on Instagram at @bhtcollective.

Join the list for new episodes every Tuesday: https://www.betweenhereandthere.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhtcollective

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bhtcollective

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhtcollective

Then it all arrived at once. The company sold to private equity. His mother died. A month later, his marriage ended. On one work call, the disrespect crossed a line, and he hung up and said out loud, "I'm done." He skipped a party weekend in London for a silent retreat in Big Sur, and spent the next eighteen months between here and there: knowing something had to change, not knowing what.

In this conversation, Brian and Michael walk through the whole arc. The house fire that cleaned the slate when he was young, and how the wanting crept back. The signs he now sees a decade before the break. The single question from his coach that took months to answer (who am I?). The Thanksgiving moment of clarity about his marriage. And the word he came out the other side with: less.

Also in this episode:

• Why "gripping" is the feeling to watch for before a pivot
• Letting go of perceived certainty and what other people will think
• Learning to say no, and why rebuilding is the harder part
• Non-negotiables, and why what you're pivoting from becomes your boundary
• Brian's advice for anyone on the edge of a pivot: listen to yourself, be vulnerable, let go

Brian is a yoga teacher in Saugatuck, Michigan and co-founder of Between Here + There. Next week, the hosts swap seats and Michael shares his story.

We'd love to hear from you: are you on the verge of a life pivot? Where are you in it? Tell us on Instagram at @bhtcollective.

Join the list for new episodes every Tuesday: https://www.betweenhereandthere.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhtcollective

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bhtcollective

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhtcollective

Hosted by Michael Sanders and Brian Di Bartolomeo, two friends who each walked away from successful careers and met in yoga teacher training. Honest conversations about transition, identity, and staying present while your life changes. Rooted in the Midwest.

First episodes drop Tuesday, September 29.

Episode 0: Welcome to Between Here + There

Episode 1: Brian's Story

Follow the show so they land in your feed, and join the list at betweenhereandthere.co.

Instagram: @bhtcollective

Facebook: facebook.com/bhtcollective

YouTube: youtube.com/@bhtcollective

This episode sets the tone for everything that follows: honest conversations about life pivots, identity shifts, and the messy middle between what was and what's next. Michael and Brian share why they created this community, how their own careers and life paths led them here, and why the most important question in these moments is often not "What should I do?" but "Who am I now?"

You'll hear why they believe life pivots are bigger than career changes, how chosen and unchosen transitions shape us, and why authenticity is at the center of every turning point. Brian breaks down the deeper purpose of the community - creating a safe space to pause, reflect, and move toward what's next with clarity. Michael adds the perspective of staying present while everything around you changes, plus the Midwest-rooted, yoga-informed lens that shapes the show.

We break down the tools and approaches listeners can expect from the community, including breathwork, reflective questions, guided meditations, yoga nidra, and thought-provoking exercises designed to challenge assumptions and uncover what really matters. This is not about quick fixes or pretending to have all the answers. It's about helping you hear the signal underneath the noise.

If you're standing at a crossroads, rethinking your identity, recovering from burnout, or just sensing that your next chapter is calling, this is the conversation for you. Between Here and There is built for anyone learning how to carry forward the truest version of themselves.